askAlana.com – Helping You Learn to Trust Your Heart

Developing Your Intuition – Learn How to Balance Your Mind & Heart

Here’s a question we received regarding our intuition training course that helps with developing intuition.

Kirk VandenBerghe provides insight into balancing heart and mind.

We hope you enjoy this Q&A session.

Jennifer: I really need help with the “heart” aspect. My main challenge at the moment is identifying when I’m “in heart,” and knowing how to open up to my heart and its intelligence. I’ve read the six steps to intuition in your “Developing Your Intuition” eBook and have done it a few times, but I feel like I’m a bit off the planet when I do this; out of touch with reality.

Are there certain indicators that can let me know when I’m really coming from a heart space, as opposed to a head space or a “needy” space? My biggest challenge is to identify this so I can manifest what my heart really wants, not what I think I want in my head. I get so confused.

Kirk: I love how you phrased, “…open up to my heart and its intelligence.” Entering altered states of consciousness and the subsequent shift in really will really help.

Love your “head.” It just wants to help. When you ask a question and your mind provides an answer, just thank that aspect of your being for its contribution. Mind is used to being the provider of answers.

Love all aspects of your being that seem to be “needy.” You have needs and wants and desires. Allow them to exist. Give them space to be. (Not space to run your life…space to be.)

My suggestion is to give yourself permission to play with learning to develop your intuition. See if you can play with temporarily setting aside the important questions in life, like what your heart truly wants. Instead, begin with play and keep things fun and light.

Act “As If” You Can

Learn to run through the first five “Developing Intuition” steps quickly:

Grounding

Centering & Releasing

Affirming

Aligning

Asking

Don’t worry about doing these steps perfectly. Just pretend that you can do them quickly. Act “as if” you can. After some practice doing the first five steps slowly, you’ll be able to do them in one slow, deep breath in…and out…

Then you can finish the sixth step of “receiving” as you once again breathe in…

Breathe in the answer. This is your receiving.

Here are some example areas of life where you can play:

When your phone rings, sense the energy and ask yourself who is calling. Your receiving (the sixth step) is what you guess as the answer. See if you can let go of having to get the “right” answer. Just enjoy noticing what you receive.

When you see an email message from someone, sense the energy of the message and ask what they’re writing about. Your receiving (again, the sixth step) is what you feel is the answer.

As Natural As Your Breath

The first four steps are about dropping down into a resourceful state of consciousness. Then your intention is engaged on the fifth step when you form your asking. Your awareness is engaged in your receiving. Asking and receiving are as natural as breathing in…out…and back in…

By playing with asking and receiving in areas of life that do not hold for you strong significance, you can bypass the fears of success and/or failure, along with many other beliefs about possibility, capability, deserving, meaning, etc.

Again, when your mind offers an answer, note it and express your gratitude for having a mind that is responsive. Don’t scold your mind. It’s just trying to participate and help. If you like, invite your head to join in the adventure of developing intuition.

What If My Head Just Makes It Up?

Now I will address the essence of your question by rephrasing it: How do I know if what I receive is really intuitive information from my heart or just something my head made up? My answer is that the difference is often very subtle. There is a difference, but the distinctions are often quite fine. Don’t let that discourage you. Again, see if you reframe the work of intuitive practice into play.

Start moving through the first five steps quickly…ground, center, release, affirm, align…ask…receive…

As you play, you will begin to notice how your receiving operates. For example, I have great confidence when I see an inner movie that appears a little above eye level and slightly to the left. It has a yellowish color tone (I have no clue why). Through practice (play), I’ve tested what I’ve received and have been able validate the information as accurate. What preceded this ability for me was having a lot of fun making intuitive guesses and noticing my experience.

Engage Your Five Senses (and Beyond)

My example above of seeing an inner movie is primarily visual, but any of our senses can be utilized to intuitively receive information. After you ask…sense…listen…watch…feel…even taste and smell for information.

The kinder you are to your mind and its desires—your beautiful ego—the more these energies of your being will relax and enjoy the sixth step of receiving. You can’t force your mind be quiet.

For example, if you try to shut up an inner voice you’ll probably be using an inner voice! The more you enjoy the first five steps, the quieter your mind will become. The more happy and relaxed your mind, the easier and more natural your receiving will be.

Relax Into Receiving

If you like, invest time in playing each day. If you do, you will find that your “guesses” become more accurate. You will build confidence and self-trust. As you grow, you will know when to ask the “bigger” questions that you feel are more important. You’ll build confidence that when you ask…you will receive. Perhaps that’s how the universe works. You will receive. You cannot not receive.

See if you can relax about of how, when, and where you will receive. See if you can relax about what you will receive.

Drop down into your intuitive state. It’s a wonderful state in which to live in. That’s the first four steps. Then…ask (step five)…and…receive (step six)…

There you go, Jennifer. I hope you enjoy the process.

Jennifer: Thank you, Kirk! That was really helpful, and I’m excited to continue practicing and playing. I know that there’s wisdom in side of me (somewhere… 😉

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Thanks Jennifer u r absolutely right. I had this wonderful experience before. Now my confidence level has been increased more by ur article. It’s really helpful. And thank you, Kirk and thanks to God for giving such a wonderful power.

I just got to this website randomly, and I was really very happy and thankful that there was a source which can guide me. My guide mentioned to me about my relationship with God. He said that I very well know to communicate with him as in talk to him and ask him for my desires, but I need to quiet myself to get the answers as he has been answering me. How Do I get his answers? I’d be very thankful if you help me.

Thank you, and I thank God for both of you Jennifer and Kirk. You are both blessed and I now feel blessed to have been to your website just by my Intuition. I would love to know more, thank you and God be with you always.

Hi I am trying my level best to communicate with my guidance and my parents who are no more, but I can not. And also I am trying to open my third eye but no luck. I’m doing meditation for both the above but no luck. Please help me. I am a regular reader of your articles which are really very helpful. Thanks and God bless.

Am new here but I just feel am on the right place. My question is why don’t I know myself? I don’t have principles sometimes and can’t even figure out what is good, bad or very bad. It’s really affecting me, please help.

Hadi, I love your questions, and I love that you’re asking them. You’re wanting to go beyond just living on the surface of life. Yes? There’s a ton of information here on askAlana.com (and many other wonderful sites on the Internet). One great place to begin would be the book we wrote and placed on-line for free > The Seven Sacred Steps.

I think we all have a slightly different view of intuition, different methods of reaching and using it and different explanations as to how it works. I see it like this. We have learned or been taught a world view. The subconscious has made a map that is unspoiled by any ism and far superior. Our thinking blocks some good ideas that gently get through sometimes and are different from what we were thinking. Einstein put it like this. “If an idea seems right at first, there is no hope for it.”
Intuitive thoughts are often those we push aside. They need to be looked at and tested. A typical instance is when I was going over to say something to someone at work. The thought came to me, should I say that? I tried to see something wrong with what I was going to say, but couldn’t see anything wrong with it. I should have asked myself some question, I guess, but I learned the hard way to never ignore your intuition.
You can test any ideas that come to you in any manner you want. I start by asking questions of myself or of the idea. I think it’s the unprompted ideas and feelings that we call intuition, but all thought comes from the mind somewhere, don’t they?
I see gut reactions, feelings, thoughts, images and their symbols as all connected. If you have a gut reaction or say negative feeling, there is a thought behind the emotion. If the thought is illogical, you change it and you feel better for having gotten straight on that issue. Sometimes I feel like I’m getting the flu when my body temperature drops or I am actually in danger of getting the flu. Feeling sick in advance is a pretty clear message to get my temperature back up. One time, asking how the mind works, I got the idea that it compares everything to everything and I imagined a multiplication table where you can fill in the blanks by multiplying the numbers on the top by those on the side. Dreams so often have meaning. You sort of get what you expect or want, done right.
The third eye and the compassion area of the brain are right front, where the sole link between the two processors, halves, called the corpus collosum is located. I suspect for the halves to work well together, things like compassion, thankfulness and the like make it work best. Obviously fear and negative emotions tend to block thinking clearly. I tend to disconnect a little from a tense situation by concentrating on what my intuition is telling me, as it’s my guide out and the most important thing anyway.
However you credit it’s great power, it is referred to in literature, the Bible, as the spirit of truth that leads into all truth, so it has been known about for a long time. Aristotle said that we are not thinking without intuition and Einstein said, “The only real valuable thing is intuition.
The way science explains it is that the base language of the brain is images and symbols, which it compares a million times faster than we can think in words, and catches mismatches entirely objectively. It’s like we are in front of a large computer and asking questions of it’s large database. It will write a book for you, if you feed it the facts on any subject or tell you the secrets of itself or the universe or tell you that you are thinking, when it is. It will tell you your the smartest thing in the world or whatever you decide as it is your servant for the most part.
It started working for me when I was is a positive mood and tried to use as accurate words and phrase as I could in describing something. If I’m precise it is. If I want to know it tells me I need information. If I say, I wonder where I could find that it supplies suggestions. A closed mind, however and it is limited to what you think you know and that ain’t much. Socrates proved that pretty well. Hope it works for you. It’s real and I don’t have a nickel in it to be gained by saying so.
P.S. It may be using trial and error, but isn’t that how we learn too. It’s just much faster.

Hi, I have been trying out these intuition techniques and I’m finding that I’m seeing colours, often as spirals; purples, reds, pinks. I also occasionally see silver stars. When I ask a question about a former lover, I feel my ‘heart’ burning, often creating a feeling of sickness. I’m struggling to interpret these? I would be grateful of any advice, thank you.

I love that you’re seeing shapes and colors. Our “sixth sense” intuition is internally represented in our five senses, and your visual system seems really active. I would venture a guess that your auditory and kinesthetic channels are engaging well, too; and of course, incoming intuitive information can be internally represented in taste and smell. Actually, the burning/sickness in your heart area when accessing the thought-field associated with your ex-lover is very kinesthetic, isn’t it?

Regarding interpretation, I first want to mention that I think it’s great that you’re not asking others to interpret for you. You’re seeking your own interpretation. Sure, others who are intuitive and “psychic” would probably have much to say — and perhaps some of it would be useful to you — but I get excited when people access their intuitive sensory channels and engage in seeking their own interpretations.

In a way, you’re asking yourself, “What do these spirals, colors, emotions, and body sensations mean for me?” Yes? There’s much I could offer you, but what percolates to the top in this moment is to offer an exercise:

— Enjoy thanking your “other than conscious mind” for providing this information. Mirror a loving energy of appreciation back to your inner self for bringing what you’ve been receiving into your conscious awareness. The more fun you have doing this frequently, the better.

— Gently ask your other than conscious mind to provide information in ways that you’ll be able to better understand. Make is clear that you value the information and wish to continue to “learn into” how to receive it in ways that honor how it’s being sent.

— Engage in an on-going dialogue and inquiry process with yourself. Instead of “trying to find THE answer” — the “correct” interpretation — play with staying engaged in the asking and receiving cycle. Learn to trust what you receive even when you don’t consciously understand it. Enjoy strengthening your trust that the information you need will bubble up to consciousness whenever you need it.

— One exercise I really like is asking: “I wonder how soon it will be before I [fill in the blanks].” For example: “I wonder how soon it will be before I more deeply understand the spirals I’ve been seeing,” or, “I wonder how soon it will be before I receive greater insight into the feelings in my heart when I think of my former lover.” The more you can ask these questions with child-like wonder, the more wonderful will be the jewels of insight you receive.

— Know that when you ask, you will always receive. See if you can “soften your expectations” regarding when, where, how, what, and from whom you receive. Ask, then find ways to listen with child-like wonder.

Hello Kirk, thank you very much for replying. I agree with you entirely. I should have mentioned that I have received messages about my ex through dreams. At first I began to think that the feelings I was experiencing, were my own feelings of great sadness, loss and regret. However, my dreams say otherwise and that these are ‘his’ feelings. He feels sad about what happened between ‘us’. I will just give an example of a dream I had,
I dreamed that I was having a conversation with a man on the phone, and my ex overheard the conversation I was having and started crying. This to me felt real, because not only could I feel the sadness which was strange but when we were together he was extremely jealous. I am really interested in tapping into my intuition, thank you again.

You’re aware of, and I would guess, becoming more aware of, your dreams. And you’re making distinctions regarding the source of feelings; I know from my own experience that sorting feelings out can be tricky (but really useful).

My Dear Kirk VandenBerghe, I have really enjoyed reading all questions and answers above and I still find myself with a different question. My question is to kindly ask if the sixth sense comes from God Jehovah or just what we think our hearts need? To whom do we need to direct our questions, in order to get the correct answer? Do we create where we need to receive our answers from? Please help.

@Maegin Z., my view is that the “sixth sense” is actually just increased sensitivity and awareness within our five senses. I enjoyed your three related questions regarding what I’ll call “source,” and I have a question for you: When you close your eyes and sense the eternal love, kindness, grace, and wisdom of the universe, by what name do you call this vast energy?

I had something strange happen to me not so long ago, and I just wondered if you could help please? I was deep in meditation and asked if my lover would come back to me. I must have gone to sleep and whilst I was sleeping, I received a message in green writing. It said, “He will be back.” I woke up but, I’m pretty sure I was dreaming. Is that some sort of message from my subconscious, or is it just because I want to reunite with him? It would be amazing if it came true but, I’m not sure whether it is because I want him back?

@Pin, I love your question, especially since you’re exploring your own senses and building your own intuitive skills rather than relying on what “experts” would tell you.

Certainly:

1.) You can receive messages from the dream state;
2.) You asked a question and then received an answer;
3.) Your desire for your lover to return can influence/distort the information you receive.

So, I’m not telling you anything you don’t know! 🙂

Often, the inner processes that we’re labeling as intuition are very subtle. We can learn to make fine distinctions that help us discern the source of the information we receive. Eventually, with much practice/play we can build trust — an inner sense of “knowing” what’s authentic (and what’s not).